“This is not 1988. Get over the all the fantasy wannabe wars, they are not going to happen.”

I bet the people in Georgia thought that last year.

Look at how many conflicts there have been on Russia’s borders and Eastern Europe since the end of the coldwar.

How long can I sit here being heated by Russian gas, and typing on a Chinese computer and fueling my car with middle east oil.

Makes me laugh, people in the west expect a good quality of life, all of it from imports and at the expense of exploitation in places like China. What happens when the average Chinaman expects the same quality of life?

The UK is surrounded by water. It lives off imports, that get here everyday on ships – the UK could never sustain it’s 60 million people by itself.

The RN should have 6 carriers, yet alone 2.

If Argentina is no threat, why bother with the flight of Tornado F3s? If they were not there, what would Argentina do? Invade again? Or just leave it alone?

The people of Argentina probably still think the Maldives should be part of Argentina. The people of the Falklands want to remain part of the UK. As long as this tension is there, you can’t rule out the possibilty of another conflict, no matter what the state of Argentina’s armed forces – what happens if they have backing and support from another country?

Also unrelated to the Falklands, How long can the nuclear stalemate exist? How is it the “nuclear 5” dictate who can have and who can not have nuclear weapons? As time goes by, the ability to aquire nuclear weapons will become simplier. I think tensions is eastern europe could quickly turn into war. What happens if Russia spreads it’s influence towards the West.

Source from a book – “WA&SD, 2000 Edition, Flight International.”

It lists the design intent of all aircraft in the book, and for the Su-34 it states, together with many other roles – “to perform some of the mission currently performed by the Tu-22M3 Backfire”.

And in the specs for the performance of the Su-34 it states – g-limits 7g.

Obviously the Fullback will be in service a lot longer than the Backfire, so therefore the RuAF will need something to replace it. Seems quite obvious that the Fullback will replace all Fencers and some Backfires. Obvioulsy the Backfire Is completley different type of airframe. But this was the case when RAF Tornado GR1s replaced Vulcans in the low-level strike role.

I was just curious as to why Sukhoi developed 2 seat side-by-side trainer aircraft for carrier use (Su-27IB?) when a 2 seat trainer version already existed, that could of been converted to a carrier trainer, as with the Su-33 which is based on the Su-27.

I think in the A2A role the Fullback will not be as the original Su-27 if things get close in. The 7g limit and reduced visibilty will obviously are the reasons I state this.

What roles of the Tu-22M3 will the Su-34 undertake? Could it reach the North Sea on a anti-ship mission like the Tu-22.

And as the Su-34 was developed from a naval carrier trainer, will there be a naval version of the Su-34?

What is the benefit of sitting side-by-side, like in the Su-34, Su-24. Surely the airframe of the Su-30 could be developed into an interdictor of equal performance. I really can’t think of any benefit.

Somebody else must have that reference book here? I don’t understand it – The F3 canopy looks exactly the same as the GR4, and the F-16AMLU looks exactly like F-16A. It can only be a clear coating, somebody here must know.

Having said that some F-16s canopies look darker then others. But I always thought this tint was just for sunlight – to make the cockpit conditions cooler.

I understand that some 4th gen aircraft, such as the Tornado F.3 and F-16, have RAM coating applied to the cockpit also. This would indicate that it is a clear substance.

In industry the cost of Titanium, Aluminun, Copper have all gone up in price by 2/3rds. Carbon Fibre has gone up by a 1/4, steel has dropped in price by about a 1/4 – all these materials are used in the Su-34 (except steel) – maybe this is a factor to the slow production.

I don’t think it is lack or people/skill – if it is, then this must say something about Russian society, for example the engineers who deigned and developed the Su-34/35/30, Su-39, Blackjack etc etc msut be highly qualified and skilled – as good as anything in the west, and then at the other end of the spectrum masses of unemployed unskilled workers, who can’t get jobs at Sukhoi – I think this is not the case.